When DO you help??

[TicketyBoo]

So it's day 23 for two of my Chantecler eggs and day 21 for the other two that remain. (Okay, I'm a newbie and had multiple issues but I'm hoping for better results with the BO's due later in the month!)

Anyway...the one broke through the air cell yesterday morning and has been tapping away ever since. The tapping is louder, but it doesn't seem to be making any progress.
The other egg looks...dead. It appears to have drowned? Broke through the air cell and that's it.

And the two due today are still moving around a lot but no other progress. I'm okay with that (for now! lol)

But at day 23, should I crack the egg a bit or what? Humidity is around 75-80% and heat is staying steady at 99.5.
I don't want it to give up trying

 

[meriruka]

A lot of people are divided on this issue.
Some say that nature should take it's course and if they die, they probably weren't strong and you only want to breed the strongest.

Some people think every life deserves a chance.

I belong to the second group and risking all kinds of protests raining down upon my head, I will tell you that I will bust those peeps out every time it looks like they will not do it on their own. I'm not saying as soon as you see a pip, crack the thing open. But after 36 hours, they will definitely die in there, so I will help at that point

 

[hinkjc]

Are there any external pips?

The fact that you mentioned you saw the internal pip and can hear them tapping inside says you've been opening your hatcher too much and disturbing the hatching environment, which is a no-no. If they haven't externally pipped, they are not ready to hatch. Candling them and listening to them are not going to make them hatch any faster..it will actually slow them down.

What kind of incubator are you using? If it's a still air (no fan), then your temps are a bit low and they will be late. Even if it is a forced fan bator, your thermometer could be off and they will be late. I would say wait and keep the bator closed and hope for the best.

 

[meriruka]

I agree with Hinkjc. I should have said there should be a pip first for at least 24-36 hours before considering helping. They have to absorb the yolk and dry up the veins attached to the inside of the egg or they will not survive outside. (I'm sure there are proper terms for that process, but you get what I mean....)

 

[TicketyBoo]

Okay I caved and helped this morning, it had been over 36 hours and it had a good hole in the shell but didn't seem to be able to make any more progress.
I peeled some shell off until it was half out, no blood and it was still wet. I've kept the humidity up and a couple hours later it struggled out of the shell. Still no blood but looks like it needs to absorb a little more yolk.
On a good note, one of the other ones that was due yesterday is rocking around and so is one of the quail that is due tomorrow. In fact the other rocking large egg has an external pip so it looks like it might go a bit more normal.

On a STUPID note...
I was all psyched up for these Chantecler's...when I got the eggs, she said "Oh a couple might be Americuana but they're all the same color so they should be C's" I was okay with that and didn't think anything more of it because they all DID look like Chantecler's (in comparison to the ones they KNEW were C's)
And this one...looks like an Americuana.... Which I have absolutely no use for! All this fuss and stress for a chicken I don't want

 

[hinkjc]

I'm pretty sure a chantecler doesn't lay a blue egg. What color egg did it hatch out of or are they saying the birds are cross bred? An ameraucana would hatch from a blue egg.

I'm glad to hear the little one is out ok. I hope the others hatch alright for you as well.

 

[redroosta]

THIS IS A LAST RESORT, remember chicks can take up to a full day for pipping to zipping to hatching. if you absolutley have to. take your egg gently with a tooth pick peel away some bits of shell. don't help it all the way out just make the pip or crack a bit bigger. leave the egg alone for a little while and if its still having trouble, repeat. Move around the large side of the egg when helping and DO NOT move towards the small end or you may hit a vien and cause the chick to beed to death. REMEMBER, ONLY AS A LAST RESORT!

 

[TicketyBoo]

I ended up having to help the other one too, but they are doing fine. The first one had no blood at all, the second had a little but they look great and are quite alert and dried off.

Maybe they're not EE's afterall...they're BOTH grey. Is this normal??